Health & wellbeing

“Happy birthday to you” sang the child… to the sink

Sinks across the land have heard the sweet tunes of happy birthday to you more times than we’ve had hot dinners. Who knew that the most famous song in the world was going to be the tune that became the reason why children washed their hands properly (well, as well as can be!) We’ve rounded up the must-have hand wash for those special ‘birthday’ moments.

Children’s Hand Wash

£7.50

Neals Yard Remedies

MooGoo Milk Wash

£12.00

Holland and Barrett

Moisturising Hand Wash Grapefruit & Organic Tea Tree

£4

Childs Farm

Little B Hand Wash

£8

Bramley Products

Foaming Hand & Face Wash

£4.50

Scrubbingtons

Hipp Kids Soft & Foamy Handwash Duck 250ml

£3.75

Eczemafriendly

Berry Smoothie Hand Wash 200ml

£12.50

Don’t forget the adults…

Caring Hand Wash 300ml

£9.99

Nursem

How the Covid-19 Pandemic has evoked anxiety in children and teenagers

By Marilena Andreou - cognitive behavioural psychotherapist

Does your child react strongly to change and uncertainty? Have you noticed their emotions have been affected negatively during the Covid-19 pandemic? Is the anxiety affecting their school performance?

During the pandemic, children and young people have been faced with many challenges linked to change and uncertainty. They have had to frequently readjust their lifestyles according to the government guidelines. Everyone may respond differently to change; some may feel excited whereas others may worry. Intolerance of uncertainty is a risk factor in developing generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and other problems; it also plays an important role in the tendency to worry. People who worry excessively react strongly to uncertainty; therefore they appear to be intolerant of uncertainty.

Generally children can find it difficult to cope with uncertainty, even pre-pandemic. However the pandemic has exaggerated the intolerance to uncertainty for many children, which can cause high levels of distress and can lead to depression and anxiety issues. Understandably this can leave parents and caregivers feeling very concerned about their children.

How do we cope with uncertainty? For those children who are intolerant of uncertainty, the initial response when faced with it could be to attempt to eliminate or avoid it. For example, by seeking reassurance or avoiding certain activities.

Does increasing your level of certainty turn out to be an effective way to worry less? The answer to this question is always no.

Fundamentally by learning how to respond more effectively, this can help children feel more empowered to be able to alleviate their anxiety. In turn, this can improve their interactions with others and overall school performance.

Strategies that can help children deal with uncertainty to improve anxiety:

1. Normalise it: Uncertainty is a normal part of day-to-day life, remember that it is unusually higher during the pandemic.

It does not always mean that something bad will actually happen.

2. Learn to tolerate the uncertainty:

Lots of things frequently change during the pandemic (such as school guidelines and rules about social interactions).

Learn to be okay with the uncertainty as a lot of things are out of your control.

3. Refrain from avoiding uncertainty

altogether: By actually looking for opportunities to experience more uncertainty (in small steps) this can help

you to learn that you can cope. For example by trying an activity you have never tried before. 4. Practice worry time: Schedule some time in the day (up to 15 minutes) to think about the worries that are on your mind and you can also discuss them with an adult , then move on. If you find yourself worrying outside the scheduled time, write them down on some paper, postpone them until worry time and refocus on another task/ activity, then continue with worry time later on. 5. Talk to someone: This could be a parent, a relative or a teacher. It can be helpful to talk about your concerns with someone as they may be able to help. Parents/ guardians can encourage children to be more open about their worries and not to keep them bottled up as this can cause more distress. Seek professional help (if you need to), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the gold star treatment for anxiety disorders.

In conclusion, although the pandemic has evoked anxiety in children, it is important to be able to take some practical steps to reduce anxiety levels, and this could also improve their overall school performance.

Wear’em out this spring… and never look back.

The wonderful Lauren from ‘Wear ’em out pads’ educates us on why reusable period pads are the future and the damaging effects our sanitary wear is having on the planet.

My name’s Lauren and I wear reusable period pads, and not just that, because I love them so much I created my own UKmade brand.

Wear ‘em out is taking the world by storm and has brought the conversation of reusable period pads firmly into the mainstream, having been listed in Glamour magazine online as one of their ‘7 best reusable sanitary pads for a more sustainable period’ only last week. They even went as far to describe our pads as ‘One of the most stylish and sleek reusable sanitary towels brands around’.

But let’s go back to why I’ve been wearing reusable pads for over 7 years, and why I built a brand that is being now being sold all around the world, and shouted out in magazines (Glamour was not our first rodeo, we’ve been spotted in Stylist, Cosmo and loads more, including this one obvs).

I first made the switch to reusable when I learned about the damage disposable pads were doing to the planet (more on this later) and even more worrying, the damage they were potentially causing to my hormonal health (again, I’ll go into more detail later). With all my new found knowledge I felt I had no choice but to begrudgingly step into the reusable pad game. At this time the only pads that I could find on offer were so ugly, and made with such a basic design that I didn’t feel any compulsion to talk about them – and the very real reasons why I made the switch – with my friends. So, this much-needed conversation still wasn’t being had and

in fact only reinforced the shame I had already been feeling around my periods.

Fast forward five years and by then a full convert, I decided that there was a huge opportunity to bring not only the ‘reusable period products’ conversation to the fore, but also, to bring a reusable period pad that people were happily shouting about, and happily sharing with whoever they came into contact with. Due to its (in the words of Glamour mag) ‘stylish and sleek’ design, and the confidence in which it gives the wearer, Wear ‘em out really was making waves in not only reducing landfill but also reducing period shame and I could not be prouder of what we’ve created.

Now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty, why we should consider the switch and how to go about it.

Here are a few facts for you to wrap your head around:

• 200,000 tones of menstrual waste hits UK landfill per year in the UK, this waste takes between 500-800 years to decompose due to the fact that these products and their packaging are made up using 90% single-use plastic (the equivalent to 5 carrier bags per pack). And it’s not just where it ends that causes the problem, all the energy, materials and transport it takes to make a single-use product has to be factored into the bigger picture.

• 4.8 pieces of menstrual waste is found per 100m of British beaches being cleaned, due to the high plastic content these items must never be flushed, not only do they create a huge cost for the water companies in unblocking the sewers, they do also end up as food for our sea-life, or part of our picnic when having a day at the beach.

There are reportedly up to 3,000 toxic chemicals found in currently disposable menstrual products, these toxins are said to be playing havoc with our hormones. Women’s Voices says: “Research shows that many of today’s menstrual and intimate care products contain a host of chemicals linked to cancer, disrupt hormones, and unnecessary allergic reactions.”

The scary stuff is that currently the UK has no legislation in place to say that the disposable companies don’t need to list the full ingredients on the packets, meaning we cannot make informed choice about the products we are exposing to the most absorbent part of our bodies to for up to a week every month. With this knowledge you can make an informed choice, although I know it’s not as straightforward as that. So, here’s my top ‘how to’ tips.

1. Go at your own pace, wear them only at home to begin with, or maybe even just at night. It might feel more comfortable for you to just start wearing them when you’re not even on your period so you can get a feel for them and get used to seeing them in your wash. 2. Have a little read of the reviews left by our customers on our Trustpilot, you’re not alone in your fear of switching.

3. Connect with me on the socials @wearemoutpads and ask me anything,

I’ve been where you are, I know it can feel weird and scary, the unknown always does. But, once you’ve had all your questions answered, and you’ve taken the leap, trust me – and many of our customers – when we say they’re a game-changer.